Despite being two of the genre’s top stars, John Wayne and Randolph Scott only made one Western together. Released in 1942, The Spoilers was one of a pair of films to feature the two great Western legends. After 1942, the pair never reunited on the big screen, with their paths in Hollywood diverging away from each other, even though they remained tightly linked with the Western genre.
Randolph Scott and John Wayne starred in Westerns throughout their respective careers, with each pumping multiple films a year for a time. Wayne was responsible for several of the greatest Westerns of all time, while Scott – though not nearly as famous as Wayne – contributed a long list of quality Westerns as well, such as The Desperadoes, The Nevadan, and The Man In The Saddle. More often than not, he was the hero of his films. However, that was certainly not the case with The Spoilers, as that role went to John Wayne instead.
What The Spoilers Was About
The Spoilers Saw John Wayne Battle A Corrupt Randolph Scott Character
The Spoilers was a 1942 black-and-white Western where John Wayne starred as Roy Glennister, a heroic drifter who gets caught up in a scheme by Randolph Scott’s Alex McNamara, a crooked businessman looking to seize control over a gold mine in an Alaskan town. Wayne’s character initially befriends McNamara, but as the story unfolds and his deceptive ways become more apparent, the two predictably become enemies.
Roy’s romance with Margaret Lindsey’s character and teetering friendship with Harry Carey’s Al Dexter serving as worthwhile subplots in the movie. Marlene Dietrich, previously one of Hollywood’s top female stars (and the top-billed star of the movie), also had a substantial presence in the story as a saloon owner privy to McNamara’s plans. But of course, the driving force of the story is the corruption permeating through the town, with Scott’s villain acting as the root cause of it all. Naturally, the conflict he forms with Wayne builds toward a dramatic showdown in The Spoilers’ ending.
The Spoilers Is The Best Of John Wayne & Randolph Scott’s Two Movies Together
The Spoilers Is Superior To Pittsburgh
Released a few months after The Spoilers was Pittsburgh, the second and last movie to feature both John Wayne and Randolph Scott. But unlike The Spoilers, Pittsburgh wasn’t a Western. Rather, it was a modern-day movie about a coal miner’s climb to the top of the ladder in the steel industry. The main character, played by Wayne, works hard to become important, but his ambitions ultimately cloud his decision-making and lead to his life gradually falling apart until he finally comes to his senses.
Randolph Scott’s role in the story is to act as best friend and the voice of reason to Wayne’s character.
The protagonist being unlikable for much of the film, the heavy use of narration, and a lackluster love triangle between Scott, Wayne, and Marlene Dietrich’s characters held the movie back. It had a few noteworthy moments and an interesting dynamic between the male leads, but ultimately, the film ends with the impression that perhaps Scott and Wayne’s second collaboration really should have been a Western. The Spoilers was a significantly better effort, with it offering a fun Western adventure and one of the best fist fights in the history of Westerns. Making it all the more exciting is that it’s between two actors who would go to become icons of the genre.
Why John Wayne & Randolph Scott Only Made Two Movies Together
They Made Two Movies In 1942 And Never Teamed Up Again
Given their reputations and career paths, it may come as a surprise that Wayne and Scott’s roles didn’t intersect more often. But their lack of films together makes sense, considering how the actors were given work during this time. Typically, the two would be contracted to different studios, meaning that opportunities for them to work on the same film would have been rare regardless. John Wayne’s roles in Pittsburgh and The Spoilers only happened because Universal Pictures worked out a deal with Republic (the studio Wayne held a contract with) to make it possible.
For that reason, Republic lent Wayne to Universal, who cast him in Pittsburgh and The Spoilers alongside two of their own contract players, Marlene Dietrich and Randolph Scott. So after the films released, the brief partnership ended. It theoretically could have been brought back at some point in the many years that followed, but much like Wayne himself, Randolph Scott served as the headline attraction in most of his Westerns. Taking this course allowed Scott to shine independently and emerge as one of the best leading actors in the Western genre.